## **Trustees' Annual Report for the period** Period start date Period end date 1 Sept 2021 31 Aug 2022 **From To** Section A Reference and administration details **Charity name** Freshford Preschool **Other names charity is known by Registered charity number (if any)** 1153406 **Charity's principal address** Freshford Memorial Hall Freshford Lane Freshford, Bath **Postcode BA2 7UR** ## **Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity** **----- Start of picture text -----**
Dates acted if not for whole Name of person (or body) entitled
Trustee name Office (if any)
year to appoint trustee (if any)
1 Alison Sellers Chair
2 Elli Bate Treasurer
3 Claire Thomas Secretary
4 Charlotte Taylor Committee Member
Gavin Bate Volunteer
5
Coordinator
6 Lucy Sturges Committee Member
7 Sam Fairley Committee Member
8 Carrie Richards Committee Member
9 Dudley Hinton Committee Member
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
**----- End of picture text -----**
**TAR** **Names of the trustees for the charity, if any, (for example, any custodian trustees)** |**Name**
**Dates acted if not for whole year**
**Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information)**
**Type of adviser**
**Name**
**Address**|**Name**|**Dates acted if not for whole year**| |---|---|---| |||| |||| |||| |||| |||| |||| |||| |**Name of chief executive or names of senior staff members (Optional information)**||| |Debbie Giles – Preschool Manager from 01/03/2014
Jen Harper – Preschool Business Manager from 01/01/2017 – 31/07/2022
Abby Moore - Preschool Business Manager from 01/08/2022||| **TAR** ## **Section B Structure, governance and management** ## **Description of the charity’s trusts** Initial Constitution for Freshford Preschool Charity 1129972 adopted 16[th] Type of governing document September 2008. Constitution revised and adopted on 13[th] May 2009, with (eg. trust deed, constitution) subsequent revisions on 21[st] April 2010, 1[st] November 2010, 21[st] September 2011, and 16[th] July 2013. Freshford Preschool Charitable Incorporated Organisation constituted 16[th] July 2013 and registered with the Charity Commission as Charity 1153406 on 14[th] August 2013. All activities of Charity number 1129972 transferred to CIO 1153406 by 27[th] March 2014, on which date Charity 1129972 was dissolved. How the charity is constituted Charitable Incorporated Organisation - (eg. trust, association, company) Trustee selection methods - (eg. appointed by, elected by) The Officers and Committee members shall be elected for an initial term of two years at the Annual General Meeting. After two years, retiring Officers and Committee members are eligible for re-election for up to 5 terms in total. In the event of the death or resignation of an elected Committee member, the vacancy shall be filled until the next Annual General Meeting by a Member appointed by the Committee. If the Committee feels that extra committee members are needed to provide additional expertise or to fulfil a new committee role, extra committee members may be appointed between AGMs. To encourage parental involvement, at least two thirds of the charity trustees shall normally at the time of election be family members. ln the event that this figure cannot be achieved however, the CIO may elect affiliate members to make up the balance of the charity trustees. Parents wishing to join the committee between AGMs may approach the Preschool Chair, Preschool Business Manager, or current committee members and offer their services. ## **Additional governance issues (Optional information)** You **may choose** to include additional information, where relevant, about: - policies and procedures adopted for the induction and training of trustees; - the charity’s organisational structure and any wider network with which the charity works; Refer to current Freshford Preschool Policies and Procedures found at http://www.freshfordpreschool.co.uk/policies-and-procedures The Preschool has a Child protection policy in place. DBS criminal record checks are carried out prior to commencement of employment, trusteeship or other voluntary work with the Preschool. All trustees give their time as volunteers and receive no remuneration or other benefits for duties fulfilled as part of their trustee role. - relationship with any related parties; - trustees’ consideration of major risks and the system and procedures to manage **TAR** them. ## **Section C Objectives and activities** |**Summary of the objects of the**
**charity set out in its**
**governing document**
**Summary of the main**
**activities undertaken for the**
**public benefit in relation to**
**these objects (include within**
**this section the statutory**
**declaration that trustees have**
**had regard to the guidance**
**issued by the Charity**
**Commission on public**
**benefit)**|Freshford Preschool works for the public benefit having as its objects the
development and education of children and young people by:
(1) promoting their care and safety;
(2) promoting their education and promoting parental involvement;
(3) promoting their health and wellbeing;
(4) providing services to support them and their families and carers;
(5) providing services to individuals holding membership of the CIO; and
(6) furthering the aims of the Early Years Alliance.| |---|---| ||In managing the Preschool, the trustees have had regards to the Charity
Commission’s guidance on public benefit.

Freshford Preschool has now been fully operational for over ten school
years. By providing a Preschool within the centre of the village of
Freshford we believe we improve the quality of life of both parents and
children. The children socialise and bond as a year group which eases
their transition to Freshford Primary School. Parents have a convenient
childcare facility close to the village school and Galleries shop. In
addition, we are now attracting more children from further afield who go
on to other local primary schools. These families are attracted by our
ethos, our focus on outdoor learning and Forest School and our rural
setting, which helps to create a very positive learning environment.
Despite the ongoing CO-VID 19 pandemic we were able to keep
preschool open for the entire academic year. We provided safe care and
support for our children and families in difficult circumstances. Both the
committee and staff team worked hard to allow preschool to remain open
and comply with all relevant safety protocols during the ongoing CO-VID
pandemic, providing a vital resource for local families.

During the 2021/2022 financial year, the Preschool continued to accept
the Early Years Entitlement Grant from Bath and North East Somerset
Council, (including the extended ‘30 hours’ grant for eligible families) to
provide up to 22 hours of free childcare per week for eligible 3 and 4-year
olds. This funding can be used for all sessions without restriction.

The activities at the Preschool have fostered the social, emotional,
physical, creative, spiritual and cognitive development needs of each
child. The activities have also fulfilled the curriculum guidance for the| **TAR** Early Years Foundation Stage and reflected the interests and ideas of the children. Our Preschool is entirely inclusive. We welcome all children, whatever their ability, cultural, religious or social background. We work hard to find out about each child's individual needs, ideally before they start, through taster sessions, home visits and completion of an 'All About Me' questionnaire. This allows us to get the training we need to accommodate everybody. Each family with a child attending the Preschool has the right for one parent or carer to vote at General Meetings of the Preschool and join the Preschool committee and trustees. The Preschool committee fulfils a vital role in ensuring the smooth running of the Preschool. During 2021/2022 they carried out a wide range of tasks on a voluntary basis including observing and monitoring the children's learning and development; appointing new staff; approving changes in the terms and conditions of employment for staff members; maintaining the rota of volunteer helpers; marketing the Preschool through digital and print media and organising fundraising events. During 2021/2022, the Preschool provided part-time family friendly employment for eight permanent members of staff from the surrounding area. The Preschool also offered regular supply work to another four individuals. ## **Additional details of objectives and activities (Optional information)** A great contribution is made by Committee, parent and community volunteers, along with staff commitment outside of their paid hours. Without this valuable contribution of time, energy and expertise the successful operation of the Preschool would not be possible. You **may choose** to include further statements, where relevant, about: - policy on grantmaking; - policy programme related investment; - contribution made by volunteers. Parent volunteers were welcomed back to our outdoor forest school sessions this year. Other parent helpers have assisted in work party activities, such as maintaining the Preschool garden, and at fundraising community events. The Preschool provides a regular source of income to the Memorial Hall, which helps to ensure its own financial security and ongoing maintenance. We contributed £5,000 to a major refurbishment of the hall. Which will be re-clad and glazed and the heating system improved with an air source heat pump. Preschool are one of the main users of the village hall and were pleased to able to contribute to this. **TAR** Section D Achievements and performance **TAR** Section D Achievements and performance **Summary of the main** During 2021/2022, Freshford Preschool operated successfully for **achievements of the charity** its thirteenth school year. The Preschool was once again fortunate to **during the year** have a dedicated staff team, and a professional team of trustees. The Preschool is a highly valued part of the local community with an excellent reputation both in the village and further afield. We had some staff changes this year. Our deputy manager Kerry Sherlock went on Maternity leave in October 2021. Helen Little left the preschool in July 2021. We hired three new members of staff, one on a permanent contract and two as a job share to cover Kerry’s maternity leave. Kath Bowland has been on our supply team for many years took on a years contract working two days a week. We hired Sian James who was a newly qualified practitioner also on a year contract. We hired Christie Bennet on a permanent contract. However as she had recently completed her Postgraduate Certificate of Education (PGCE) with QTS Primary (3-7) and Early Years Specialism she took on the deputy role for the first year of her contract. Once Kerry Sherlock returns Christie will be a practitioner. All three members of staff started in October 2021. Kath Bowland finished her contract slightly early leaving in June 2022 to spend more time with her family. Sian James worked the full year leaving preschool in July 2022. During the 2021/2022 school year, the preschool was 87.5% (21 children) subscribed in the Autumn terms and 95% subscribed from January 2022. We continued to have two intakes, the main one in September and then a smaller additional intake in January. This helps the children to settle into preschool life. We did not fill all of our available places this year as we had a lot of staff changes and newly qualified staff. However we did have 2 children join in term 4 which we do not usually do as we were not fully subscribed. We are currently 95% subscribed for September. Our fundraising opportunities were still limited last year by the pandemic. However, in spite of this we raised £2,273,22 in 2021/2022. We are looking at ways of fundraising in the coming year. We used fundraising from last year to replace many of the small resources used in preschool regularly. Including sandpit toys, vehicles and bug identification kits. This was in part due to the Science project our manager Debbie Giles completed with Banes, where our scientific explorations were audited and explored. We also used £912 of the fundraising to pay for the weekly sports sessions run by Up & Under Sports. Which is greatly enjoyed by all the children and fits in with our healthy ethos. We also continued our yoga sessions led by a qualified local yoga instructor, as well as music sessions led by a music teacher. The children enjoyed a trip to The Egg theatre in Bath and a trip to Victoria Art Gallery. Music for Miniatures came before Christmas for a performance of The Nutcracker. We continued to build on our strong relationship with Freshford School. **TAR** ## Section D Achievements and performance Our Manager Debbie continues to have a good working relationship with the reception teacher. The school yet again said how well the children from Freshford preschool were prepared for school and complimented our amazing staff team on all they do to ease the transition into formal education. The Preschool promotes British Values daily. As part of the focus on selfconfidence and self-awareness within Personal, Social and Emotional Development, Freshford Preschool staff encourage children to know their views count, to value each other’s views, and to talk about their feelings. Staff choose opportunities to demonstrate democracy in action, for example, children sharing views with a show of hands. Staff provide activities that involve turn-taking, sharing and collaboration. Children are given opportunities to develop enquiring minds in an atmosphere where questions are valued. We promoted healthy eating with Vicky Mowat from Riverford coming to preschool to talk about eating a rainbow and how food is grown and produced. We were awarded Millie’s mark for all of our staff being Paediatric first aid trained. The last two years we achieved the double healthy years award. We are now allowed to use the public health programme logo for introducing supervised teeth brushing after snack time. This Shows preschools commitment to healthy lifestyles and promoting health in early years. A focus on managing feelings and behaviour well has always been central to Freshford Preschool’s ethos. Staff provide opportunities for children to develop their self-knowledge, self-esteem and increase their confidence in their own abilities. Through the Preschool's Philosophy for Children work and Sunshine Circle activities, staff encourage a range of experiences that allow children to explore the language of feelings and responsibility, reflect on their differences and understand we are free to have different opinions. Overall high levels of wellbeing and involvement can be seen in the children through both staff observations and the children’s day-to-day behaviour: they are confident, relaxed and settled. As part of the focus on people & communities, managing feelings & behaviour and making relationships, the Preschool staff team create an ethos of inclusivity and tolerance where views, faiths, cultures and races are valued and children are engaged with the wider community. The children are encouraged to acquire a tolerance and appreciation of and respect for their own and other cultures. They also learn about similarities and differences between themselves and others from different families, faiths, communities, cultures and traditions, and share and discuss practices, celebrations and experiences. Through circle time activities, staff encourage and explain the importance of tolerant behaviours such as sharing and respecting other’s opinions. Staff promote diverse attitudes and challenge stereotypes, for example, sharing stories that reflect and value the diversity of children’s experiences and providing resources and activities that challenge gender, cultural and racial stereotyping. We have an annual topic focus on different countries and cultures, where we encourage parents to share their knowledge, experience and artefacts of other countries where they have lived and travelled. **TAR** ## Section D Achievements and performance Preschool continues to provide parents with access to their child's online learning journal on _Tapestry_ . Parents can log on securely and view their children's observations and photographs and upload their own observations of WOW moments recorded at home. They also receive weekly email digests of observations for their child, and their child’s complete learning journal as a downloadable PDF when their child leaves the setting. **TAR** ## **Section E Financial review** |**Brief statement of the**
**charity’s policy on reserves**
**Details of any funds materially**
**in deficit**
**Further financial review details**|The Preschool aims to maintain a reserve fund of £40,000 which is
adequate to cover our normal operational costs for at least 6 months.
This will allow us to meet staff notice and redundancy costs if ever
needed and will put us in a better position to absorb any temporary
fluctuations in income due to unexpected decreases in child numbers, or
difficulties in bill payments. The Preschool's unrestricted reserves are
currently £66,862

We have given £5,000 of the reserve fund to Freshford Memorial Hall for
their upcoming improvement works. We also plan to use some of these
reserves to update our garden and outside area as some parts of this are
in need of repair and improvement.

The trustees had been keeping extra in the reserves in case we needed
to move to a different venue during the works on the all. However the
work will be started over the summer holidays so we no longer need to
keep these funds in reserve.
The trustees have also decided to spend some of the reserve to cover
the cost of a pay rise for our staff. The additional cost will be covered by
a gradual increase of the top-up fee’s and fee’s. However we will be
using our reserves so that these can be introduced over the next three
years and not impact parents as much.

We made a loss in 2021/2022. However, this was expected due to the
reasons stated above and slightly reduced child numbers.| |---|---| ||Not Applicable| ||**(Optional information)**| |You**may choose**to include
additional information, where
relevant about:

the charity’s principal
sources of funds (including
any fundraising);

how expenditure has
supported the key objectives
of the charity;

investment policy and
objectives including any
ethical investment policy
adopted.|For the 2021/2022 financial year, the preschool's principal sources of
funding were as follows:
£53,277.48 in Early Years Entitlement grants for children attending
£30,045.56 in fees and donations from parents
£2,273.22 from fundraising events and donations
The principal areas of expenditure were as follows:
£75,101.27 on staff salaries and associated overheads
£4,325.39 staff pensions
£899.65 on Recruitment
£9,892.84 Hall Hire + (including £417.84 on Bench Donation + £5000 on
Renovation contribution)
£2,529.97 on consumables
£506.64 on IT (software, web admin & support)
£1,101.75 on insurance & registrations (Ofsted, ICO, EYA)
£708.37 on buying new items of capital equipment
£533.11 on training, development and welfare| |---|---| **TAR** |ignedonbehalfofthecharity's|trustees||| |---|---|---|---| |Signature(s)|f'\a|1--r|--__| |Fullname(s)
Position(egSecretary,Chair,
etc)|ALI:.,5ecctz6
Wtrr.|€t-entve*$,?fE
W,|| |Date|Jlllzutz,||| ||||||FRESHFORD PRESCHOOL (1153406)Receipts & PavmentsACCOUNT|FRESHFORD PRESCHOOL (1153406)Receipts & PavmentsACCOUNT|FRESHFORD PRESCHOOL (1153406)Receipts & PavmentsACCOUNT|FRESHFORD PRESCHOOL (1153406)Receipts & PavmentsACCOUNT||| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |||||||Accounlsummaru||||| ||||2020t2021
Unrestrictedfunds||2020t2021
Restrictedtunds|202'v2022
202',U2022
UnrestrictedfundsRestrictedfunds||EqurrMENr||2O2Ol212021122| ||||||||||New for old|| |RECEIPTS|||e|||e||Category|replacement
cost(!)|| |Registration Fees||||€640.00||€410.00||Art and cratt||€1,292.05!1,061.75| |Early Years Entitlement Grant
EY Pupil Premium|||s49,818.98
q0.00|||853,227.48
e0.00||Forest Schools
Fumiture & fumishings||t1,254.2681,542.32
L4,511.27t8,391.27| |Trip contributions||||e0.00||||Hygiene and safety||e553.00€563.00| |Parents Fees and donations|||t38,163.93|||e29,635.56||rcT||15,463.97!5,552.97| |Gift Aid|||81,155.O2|||€0.00||Kitchen||e405.00€340.00| |lnterest||||e0.00||e0.00||Literacy||L1,375.92el,390.61| |Fundraising|||21,970.41|||,2,273.22||Music||e859.69e860.00| |Mitk||||!115.86||L92.84||Numeracy||e637.18r643.'t4| |Refunds
Unifom||||e0.00||€0.00|e0.00|Physical/OutdoorPIay& Garden
Puzlesand Games||111,347.99L1l.740.1A
L741.00L471.00| |Receiptsfor01/09.31/08||||||||Role Play
Sensory Play||r1,933.91t1,912.91
€281.00!311.S9| |PAYMENTS||||||||Small world
Stationery and Office||e1,695.41€1.655.42
L751.82| |Events and Fundraising Purchases|||e2,601.85|||Ll,790.20||STEM||'419A2
L4,865.37t4,947.37| |Fundraising Expenses
Fee Refunds||||t0.00
e0.00||t64.55
€0.00||Woodworking/Construction
World about us||t484.14L432.09
194.34146.39| |Consumables Account Expenditure|||82,725.O0|||t2,505.99||||| |Consumables
Training||||r0.00
e966.73||€23.98
e299.00||Total replacement cost(f,)||t42.547.32E42.282.23| |Staff Welfare||||€0.00||22U.11||||| |Staff Salaries, Nl, Tax and|Pensions||e66,529.97|||t79,426.66||||| |Advertising and Recruitment||||L441.17||€899.65||||| |Hall Hire|||i4,759.50|||L4,892.84||||| |Hall Renovation Contribution||||e0.00||e5,000 00||||| |lnsurance & Regjstrations|||€1,071.85|||21,101.75||||| |tvlitk||||c1)q ))||€118.06||||| |IT||||L493.44||e506.64||||| |Capital expenditure||||e0.00||8708.37||||| |Extemal Visits
Grant makingtrusts|,|'||e0.00|10.00|8292.71|e0.00|||| |Unifom
EYTTT|r||||€311.94
t0.00||r0.00
€0.00|||| |Payments for01/09-31/08i||||||||||| |DEFICIT/ SURPLUS FOR|YEAR|||||||||| ## **Independent examiner's report on the accounts** ## **Section A Independent Examiner’s Report** **Report to the trustees FRESHFORD PRE-SCHOOL On accounts for the year** 31[st] August 2022 **Charity no 1153406 ended (if any) Set out on pages** One page attached I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity (“the Trust”) for the year ended 31/08/2022. **Responsibilities and** As the charity's trustees, you are responsible for the preparation of the **basis of report** accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (“the Act”). I report in respect of my examination of the Trust’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination, I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act. **Independent** I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have **examiner's statement** come to my attention in connection with the examination which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect: - the accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Charities Act; or - the accounts did not accord with the accounting records; or - the accounts did not comply with the applicable requirements concerning the form and content of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that the accounts give a ‘true and fair’ view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination. I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. **Signed:** F B Meaking **Date:** 15[th] June 2023 **Name:** Fiona Baden Meaking BA(Hons) FCA CTA **Relevant professional** ICAEW & CIOT **qualification(s) or body (if any): Address:** 5 Bloomfield Road, Bath BA2 2AD 1 **Oct 2018** **IER** ## **Section B Disclosure** Only complete if the examiner needs to highlight material matters of concern (see CC32, Independent examination of charity accounts: directions and guidance for examiners). **Give here brief details of any items that the examiner wishes to disclose** . None 2 **Oct 2018** **IER**